


As I Lay Dying

by Destinyiel



Category: Shadowhunters, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, But hey there's also lots of, Character Death, Dark, Hurt Alec Lightwood, I think that sums it up, I'm Sorry, Love, M/M, Pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 15:04:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destinyiel/pseuds/Destinyiel
Summary: Alec Lightwood wants to get back to the field after dedicating most of his time to paperwork and other Head of the Institute responsibilities. However, when he encounters a particularly nasty pair of demons, not everything goes as he had initially planned.What would you say to someone you love if you had the last few minutes to make a phone call?





	As I Lay Dying

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my lovelies! 
> 
> I come to you with another short story with our favourite boys, I hope you enjoy it. I just want you to know that I'm sorry. (Am I though?)

Alec moved swiftly, almost urgently, taking turn after turn into another dark alley, thankfully hidden from the intrusive stares of the mundanes who crawled the streets of New York, not realizing the danger they've been putting themselves in.  Once again, Alec caught a glimpse of the creature he has been following, its giant, hideous body moving surprisingly fast and leaving claw marks on the nearest building.

Going after it without backup might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but Alec needed to take a break from being the Head of the New York Institute and remind himself how it actually felt to be a _shadowhunter._ He rarely got to be the latter these days, even though he was obviously still having training sessions, like everyone, but that was nothing compared to the thrill of being in the field. One little Sitri demon might have been able to wreak havoc amongst mundanes, but Alec felt a solo mission for him was way overdue and the task seemed too comically easy to even bother to assign any other shadowhunters to go along with him.

Sitri demons were quite smart and diligent mid-hunt, but they had one weakness - their sight left much to be desired and while moving, they mainly let their sense of hearing guide them, which favored Alec, as his silence rune was working its magic quite well. He repressed the urge to chuckle when he noticed that the demon found himself in the dead end, Alec right on its tail, picking a runed arrow from his quiver, which sparkled in contact with the bow and aiming for the giant, unmoving figure.

Alec inhaled deeply while drawing the bow to steady his breath and improve his ranger's focus, relaxing into it and releasing the arrow straight into the demon's body, landing it right into the spinal cord. Just like Alec had expected, the demon dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Alec let out a satisfied chuckle. It was way more fun than he had anticipated.

He couldn't help but frown though, because the seemingly lifeless body was still on the ground, when it should have turned to dust by now. Alec grabbed another arrow and drew the bowstring along his forehead. He discharged it and the launched arrow pierced the air towards the demon in great speed. It was barely a second, but Alec seemed to be seeing everything in slow motion.

Instead of arrow hitting the blatantly impossible to miss target, he saw the long, vine-like tentacle emerge from demon's back and grab the arrow mid-air. Alec let out a surprised gasp, but before he could even attempt to draw the third arrow, the long, deafening screech erupted from the demon's throat as Alec saw the tentacle rip out the arrow stuck in demon's neck and throw it onto the ground, soaking in black ichor.

"What the hell," Alec muttered to himself, frowning, and reached to the thigh holster he had strapped to his left leg and a few seconds later a seraph dagger lit up in his hand as he rushed towards the demon. The damage done by the arrow seemed to be quite permanent because even though it must have sensed Alec approaching it, it didn't move an inch. Alec thought the final blow with a seraph dagger would settle it, but he had not expected to hear another screech, this time from behind his back, and when he stopped in his tracks to turn around, another Sitri demon hissed right in front of his face. It had several sets of sharp and pointy teeth and at least a dozen eyes, completely useless though.

Alec raised his hand to stab the demon standing in front of him, but he felt something wrap around his arm holding it in place and when he glanced in that direction, he noticed it was the same tentacle that the first demon used to get rid of the arrow he had shot. The grip was tight, but Alec still tried to free himself, he kicked the second demon in the shin and as it growled and lurched forward, Alec punched its neck. He tried to reach his right hand with his left one, to grab the dagger and send the demon right back to hell, but his struggle proved pointless, because the demon regained his composure much faster than Alec had expected and the next thing he saw was a long arm covered in scales moving fast towards him and he felt the sharp claws dig into the back of his neck, holding him in place.

"Son of a bitch," Alec hissed through gritted teeth, struggling for another tiny breath, at the same time attempting to set himself free, but his left hand was eventually grabbed by athe demon behind him and he was officially powerless.

Suddenly, the claws around Alec's neck disappeared and he took a deep, loud breath that ended with a cough. His lungs were burning from lack of oxygen, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt when the demon's sharp claws ripped violently into his stomach like knives, leaving him wide-eyed and shivering. Alec didn't even realize when he had fallen to the ground, his bow and dagger by his side, as he tried to blink away the weird fog that seemed to be clouding his sight, although he was unsuccessful. All he knew was that the demons were both gone and that he felt incredibly cold.

He reached inside his pocket, grabbed his stele and attempted to activate the healing rune, which was quite a challenge since his hands were shaking way too much, but the fact that the wound did not react at all to the healing powers made him sigh in defeat as he threw the stele onto the ground and crawled to the nearest wall to lean on it. When he made it, he took a closer look at the huge wound on his stomach and he decided it was just like he had expected - it was infected by the venom from the demon. What is more, Alec calculated he had barely a few minutes before he would lose his consciousness and with the amount of blood coming out of his wound, maybe half an hour before he was dead.

Alec rested his head on the cold brick wall and closed his eyes. He wanted to think it was not the way he had imagined his demise. He wanted to believe that he would get married first, that he would get to vow his eternal love to Magnus, that they would have kids and Alec would grow old with the love of his life by his side, and when it was really time to go, he would go, surrounded by the people he loved, without any regrets but one. His only regret would be leaving Magnus behind and making him deal with everything on his own.

But this, this was nothing like what Alec had hoped for. He was cold, scared and alone.

Alec shook his head and willed himself to open his eyes, praying to the Angel that they would not give up at least for now, that he would get to do the one thing he wanted, that he needed to do in that particular moment.

He reached into his pocket and fished out his phone, and as he unlocked it, staring for a moment at the picture of him and Magnus that they had taken in Tokyo, his fingers automatically wandered to the number he had called what seemed to have been a million times already. His fingers trembled for a moment before he pressed the "call" button and he bit his lip and a choking sound escaped his throat. He did not want this to be a goodbye.

"God," Alec sobbed through gritted teeth and he tried to take a deep breath, but he knew he was wasting his time so he hastily pressed the green button and heard the familiar beeping sound.

It was only after three signals that he heard the most familiar voice in the world on the other end of the call and his lips curved into some twisted version of a smile for a tiny moment before going back to the grimace of pain.

"Hey," he spoke, putting all the effort into sounding calm and peaceful, to not letting his voice quiver.

"Alexander!" He heard a cheerful voice exclaim immediately, but then it dropped slightly and was clouded with worry, such a typical thing for Magnus, being protective of his boyfriend. "Is everything okay?"

Alec pressed his hand against his lips for a quick moment to regain composure as his eyes shone with tears.

"Yeah," he replied and maybe if he wasn't preoccupied with other matters, he would be impressed with his acting skill. "I just wanted to hear your voice. You know how I hate paperwork and I'm swamped."

He heard Magnus laugh and Alec couldn't help but smile.

"You're wasting your time doing paperwork when you could be doing something much more interesting right now, Alexander..." Magnus said in a low, seductive tone.

Alec replied with a hum.

"Like what?"

"Me," Magnus said and Alec couldn't help but laugh, even though the pain it caused was excruciating. "When are you coming home? Just say the word and I'll open a portal and come pick you up-"

"No," Alec interrupted quickly. "No, thank you. I know you've been working all day too, so you should rest now."

Alec noticed the pool of blood by his side and the shivers got even worse than they had been before. He knew he was slowly but surely drifting away. He felt so incredibly cold, he could barely move his fingers, but he managed to put Magnus on speaker and look at the picture of them again. Them, together, smiling, in love. He managed to smile lightly, but he couldn't stop the tears from falling from his eyes anymore and they flooded his cheeks. He licked his lips and tasted salt, but was also painfully aware of the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and the pounding in his head, almost like someone was repeatedly smashing his head into the wall and hoping for his brain to fall out.

"I'll be home soon, Love," He promised and immediately hated himself for lying to the man he loved more than anything in the world, but he knew it was for the best.

"Okay then," Magnus said. "I'll make dinner."

"You're gonna cook?" Alec frowned. Magnus only tried cooking once, or maybe it was baking... Alec could not remember now, but he was sure it did not end well.

He heard Magnus laugh on the other end of the call.

"Don't be silly, Alexander," Magnus said. "If I ever not want you anymore, I'll just tell you, there's no reason to poison you."

Alec chuckled in response. He felt his heart speed up, trying to make up for all the blood loss, desperately trying to pump more and more of it, almost as if it didn't know there wasn't any more. It seemed to be on its last legs and Alec started panicking, he started breathing a bit more shallow and uneven and desperate, knowing that every breath could be his last. But he focused on the task at hand instead.

"I love you, Magnus." He declared and put as much love into it as he could. He was sure his voice would break at the end, but somehow it didn't. Alec's eyes were only slightly open now, the tiniest slits, and he focused on the screen of his phone, or more like, on the man in the picture, right next to him.

Maybe that was enough, Alec thought. Perhaps getting to love and be loved by Magnus Bane, even for a short while, would suffice. But he couldn't lie to himself. It was not enough, not even a hundred years spent by his side would feel like enough. Not ever. The only thing Alec would settle for was infinity, but apparently it was just not meant to be.

"I love you too," Magnus replied and Alec's chest clenched painfully. "And I miss you. Come home."

"See you soon, sweetheart." Alec's finger lightly caressed the red button on the screen of his phone. He stared at it stubbornly until he couldn't see anything anymore, until he only saw red and white and until the phone dropped to the ground.

_See you soon._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you don't hate me too much...  
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated, I love reading what you have to say, I love you guys ♥
> 
> Oh, and if you want to yell at me, I'm on Twitter @sylightwood


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